In case you weren’t uneasy enough about having to create Facebook accounts just to use a virtual reality headset, you should know that in some circumstances deleting a linked Facebook account will then remove your access to any Oculus purchases you have made.
As Upload VR report, for now, owners of older Oculus headsets—currently existing just fine with Oculus account—have until 2023 before new rules kick. These will mandate a Facebook account for all of the company’s VR hardware, not just future headsets. When that rule change takes place, any older, long-time Oculus users who have chosen to link their Oculus account to their Facebook account, then try to delete the latter, will be met with this warning:
Deleting your Facebook account will also delete your Oculus information.
This includes your app purchases and achievements. You will no longer be able to return any apps and will lose any existing store credits.
That sucks! Now combine this knowledge with the words spoken by Andrew ‘Boz’ Bosworth, Vice President of Augmented and Virtual Reality at Facebook last week, when he said, “I think people should continue to make sure their Facebook accounts are in good standing before they buy the headset. They can work through those problems before they do it.”
What the fuck should a Facebook account’s standing have to do with anyone’s use of a virtual reality headset in video games? And why should video games I buy to play be tied to a social media account, to the point where deleting the former—increasingly a good and safe idea for everyone on the planet—also removes the latter?
I mean, I know the answer—the only reason Facebook bought Oculus in the first place was to tie it into the platform’s obsession with data and advertising—but it still boggles the mind how these enormous companies, used to throwing their weight around in other tech spaces, keep getting video games so wrong.
This loss of content would apply to users who have linked their Oculus and Facebook accounts, and then moved exclusively over to a Facebook account. As for those who currently only have an Oculus account, and in 2023 don’t want a Facebook account, the company told Upload VR, “We’ll update existing users who choose not to log in with a Facebook account as we get closer to ending support for Oculus accounts in 2023.”